When I say that I am a gardener, I often get asked what I do in the winter; the assumption being that there is nothing to do. Now all the leaves have fallen and the bare bones are once again visible it is a time to pause and reflect the past year and plan for the next one.
There is time to stand and gaze at the view and also time to catch up with jobs. I am currently pruning roses, wisteria and shrubs, shaping them ready for regrowth in the spring. I am also cutting back the herbaceous and digging up weeds safe in the knowledge that I have a few months before it all grows again.
There may be fewer plants doing their thing at this time of year but each one can be admired and appreciated in full. For that reason I love Mahonia, Prunus subhirtella autumnalis and winter foliage as illustrated above.
If course I am going to have less work to do. Maybe I am too efficient, ha ha, but some of my smaller gardens are up to date so January will be a quiet month. I will spend some of this time doing my own garden but also planning. Some seeds have been ordered but you can’t do too much catalogue browsing and I need a more ordered approach to my pub vegetable garden. I have a garden to brighten up with new plants and a whole new year of blogging ahead.
Just the start!
So I’m wearing extra socks and another jumper or two, and where I can I am still gardening. Where I can’t, I am choosing seeds and plants and taking time to enjoy the sunsets!
